Stop Giving Everyone the Same Discount
Most ecommerce brands run holiday sales the lazy way. They pick a blanket discount code like 30% off, blast it to their entire list four times over a weekend, and pray the revenue makes up for the destroyed margins. That is a mistake.
If someone bought from you three weeks ago and loves your brand, they do not need 30% off to convert again. A modest 20% off will get the job done. Meanwhile, someone who has sat on your list for six months without ever spending a cent needs a much harder push. Giving everyone the same top-tier discount leaves thousands of dollars of profit on the table.
We use a tiered sales structure for our clients that protects margins while scaling top-line revenue. It requires aligning your campaigns, your on-site sign-up forms, and your core abandonment flows so every subscriber receives an offer tailored to their purchase history.
The Five Core Segments to Build
Before launching a major promotional push (like Labour Day or Black Friday), you need to define your audience into distinct behavioural segments inside Klaviyo. I build out five specific groups:
- Non-buyers: Placed order equals zero over all time, and can receive email marketing.
- Active customers: Placed order at least once overall, placed order at least once in the last 180 days, and can receive email marketing.
- At-risk customers: Placed order at least once overall, placed order zero times in the last 180 days, and can receive email marketing.
- Engaged 90 days: Opened or clicked an email, placed an order, or been active on site in the last 90 days (or subscribed in the last 30 days), and can receive email marketing.
- Engaged non-buyers during sale: Matches the engaged 90-day criteria, and placed order zero times between the sale start and end dates.
Once these are built, map out your offer tiers. Your most aggressive offer goes to non-buyers (say, 30% off). Your middle offer goes to at-risk customers (25% off) to win them back. Your lowest discount goes to active customers (20% off). The more likely someone is to buy, the lower the discount you should give them.
Why You Must Convert Segments to Lists
Here is where most marketers trip up. Klaviyo segments are dynamic. If a non-buyer receives your 30% off announcement email on day one and makes a purchase, they instantly move into the active customer segment.
If you keep targeting dynamic segments throughout a multi-day sale, that customer's next email will suddenly offer them 20% off instead of the 30% campaign they started on. That is a terrible customer experience. It feels sloppy and unfair.
The fix is simple. You build and test your segments in advance, clone them, and then on the morning the sale goes live (for example, 2 September), you manually convert those cloned segments into static lists. A static list locks the audience in place for the entire promotional window, keeping their messaging and offer code consistent from launch to wrap-up.
Aligning On-Site Forms and Abandonment Flows
Running a tiered sale via email falls apart if your website shows something completely different. You need your on-site flyout forms and your automation flows to reflect the exact discount tier that each visitor was emailed.
1. Targeted Flyout Forms
Build three separate flyout forms set to trigger after 8 seconds in the bottom corner of your store. Each form displays one specific tier code (30%, 25%, or 20% off). In the targeting settings of each form, set it to display only to visitors who belong to that specific converted static list. When a non-buyer clicks through from their email, the site greets them with their specific 30% reminder.
2. Promotional Flow Clones
Never rewrite your evergreen abandonment flows in place. Instead, clone your Abandoned Cart, Abandoned Checkout, and Browse Abandonment flows. Label the new drafts specifically for the holiday event.
Inside these cloned flows, insert conditional trigger splits checking which static list the profile belongs to. Route them down paths that reiterate their specific 20%, 25%, or 30% discount code, with a fallback branch giving the top offer if they match none of the lists. Switch your standard flows off, turn the holiday flows live for the sale period, and switch them back once the sale ends.
The Campaign Schedule and the Final Push
Start warming up your list roughly two weeks before the event. Send early teaser emails to your broad 90-day engaged segment at the two-week and one-week marks to build anticipation without revealing discount codes.
When the sale opens, send targeted campaign variations to your three static lists on day one, followed by reminders on day two, day five, and the final sale day. Each list gets copy and creative that highlights their assigned discount tier.
On the day after the sale officially ends, you pull one final lever. Send a last-chance email targeted at segment five: subscribers who were engaged over the last 90 days but placed zero orders during the promotional dates. Give them one final 24-hour window with your top offer. This routinely captures a massive second wave of revenue from hesitant shoppers who were sitting on the fence.
Final Thoughts
Executing an email strategy like this takes real preparation. It is undeniably more work than sending one generic voucher code to your whole list. But protecting 5% to 10% of margin across hundreds of orders while systematically converting stubborn non-buyers is how profitable ecommerce brands scale.
If you want our team to design, segment, and execute high-converting promotional calendars for your store, explore our Email Campaign Management services.
